Chables hoff



(No Model.)

0. HOFF.

SHEET METAL SEAMING MAOHINE.

Patented Mar. 24, 1885.

Ihvrrnn Starts Parent Orrrcn.

CHARLES HOFF, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO HOFF, NOLL & RENNER.

SHEE'l' h/lETAL-SEAMING MACHINE.

tJPEGliE-EC'ATIOEZT forming part of Letters Patent No. 314,4-I8, dated Itiareh 2%, 1885. Application filed June 3, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I. Grannies Horn, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sheet-Metal-Seaming Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to seaming machines, and especially for preparing roofing-tin. Its object is to rapidly form the seam and roll the tin ready for use. \Vith this object in view my invention consists in mechanism for feedin g the sheets forward, forming the seams, and rolling the formed sheets ready for use.

The invention will be first fully described in connection with the accompanying, drawings, and then particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which similar reference-letters indicate like parts wherever they occur, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved machine. A portion of the side frame and bed-plateis broken away to show an end view of the clampingjaws. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section taken in front of the treadle and clamping'jaws. In this view a portion of the bed-plate is removed on the -right-hand side to expose part of the lower clamping-jaw. Fig. 3 is a top plan View of the head of the machine. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view in vertical transverse see tion of the jaws, exposing one of the stop-pins which check the sheets in position to be acted upon by the seam-forming jaws. In this view the edges of the two sheets are shown hooked together between the jaws, ready to receive the pressure necessary to form the seam.

The frame of the machine consists of two side standards, A, which support the bedplate B, and are braced together by the crossbars a. The bed has a folding extension, B, which is hinged to the bed-plate B, and supported in the working-position, Fig. 1, by a support, I). When the machine is not in use,

this tail-board B folds down to economize space. Upon the opposite end of the machine are two brackets, 0, one upon each side, to support the removable winding-roller E, which is provided outside of the brackets with a crank, e, and on the same side, withinthe bracket, with a ratchet-wheel, F, the teeth of which I are engaged by a spring-pawl, f, to prevent the tin from unwinding.

Secured rigidly to the frame of the machine and above the bed-plate Bis the stationary beam G. This is vertically perforated to receive the stop-pinsg. From this beam G is suspended by bIZLCkGiJdl'OllS it another beam, H. Between the two stationary beams G H the movable jaw I is supported by the togglejoints J, which are united to the pitman Kby the linksjj. The movable jawI plays through a slot in the bed-plate, the walls of which guide it 'verticall y againstor from the stationaryjaw G. The treadle-bar L is fulcrumed at Z in lugs secured to the floor or foundation, and, passing under one of the cross-braces to the outside of the frame, is provided with a hinged foot-plate, Z, which may be folded up out of the way when the machine is not in use. The treadlebar, striking against the under side of the cross-bar a, prevents the jaw I from dropping down too far. It is only necessary that the jaw I drop just below the top of the table to permit the tin to be carried forward. A spring, N, is shown stretched between the beam H and the trcadle to assist in operating the jaws. I

Ihave shown the roller E provided with a central removable collar, 0, and a removable end plate, 6', on the end opposite from the ratchet-wheel. The wheel a", collar 0', and ratchet-wheel F guide the sheets trueon the roller. 0

The machine shown is intended to form two strips at once, but it maybe made tot'orm any desired number.

The tin sheets M to be joined have their opposite edges hooked in opposite directions in the usual manner.

The mode of operation of my device is as follows; The opposite edges of the sheets M being hooked together, the hooked parts are passed between the jaws G I. The treadle is then brought down and the joints pressed together and formed. The sheets are then ad vanced until another joint is brought under the action of thejaws, and so on until a strip long enough to reach the roller E is formed, when the leadingdownwardly-bent end of the sheet is placed in a slot in the roller. The

machine is now ready for continuous rapid work. It will be not-iced that as the sheets M advance the pins 9 rest upon them. The tin is now wound around the roller E until the hooked edges are stopped by the pins, which have rounded lower ends. The treadle is now brought down, closing the jaw I up against the stationary jaw G, thus forming another seam. So soon as the jaw I is allowed to drop by releasing the treadle the crank e is moved, windingthe sheet around the roll (the flattened seam readily passing the stop-pins, which slide up in the stationary jaw G) until the sheets are again stopped by the pins 9, when the treadle is again brought down, forming another seam, and so on until a sheet or sheets of sufficient length are formed. During this operation the operator supplies new plates of tin, as required,with one haud,while operating the crank with the other hand and the treadle with the foot. \Vhen sheets of sufficient length have been formed, the roller E is removed, stripped, and returned preparatory to forming other sheets. It will thus be seen that I have produced a compact cheap machine which requires but little power to operate, and which leaves the tin in good condition to be applied for roofing purposes. I thus, by avoiding the buckling and. uneven joints usually made, save much time in applying the tin to use, and insure better work.

What I claim,"and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a tin-seaming machine, the combinajaw constructed to be forced up against said stationary jaw to form the completed seam, substantially as specified.

3. A seaming-machine consisting of a bedplate, a pair of clamping-jaws arranged to operate upon a hooked sheet of tin passing over draw the sheet forward and roll it up for use after the seams are formed, and a guide (one or more) removably secured to the roll, substantially as herein shown and described.

4. In a seaming-machine, the combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of the frame, bed-plate B B, and clamping-jaws G I, with stop-pins g, and removable roller E, ratchet F, and pawlf.

CHARLES HOFF.

Witnesses:

GEO. J. MURRAY, CASPER MILES.

neath the said stationary jaw with a movable said bed-plate, a removable winding-roll to 

